Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-06-16

less here. Widows are compelled to
wear white. to always keep their heads
shaved and covered. but the dhots form
of dress Is preserved. and even the
doubtful pleasure of taking SNUFF is
withheld from them.
1t will be seen, from what I have
said. that the position of the Brahmin
woman. in South India. is enviable to
that of her sister in North India
Though she is not regarded as an
equal, she is little better than q
chattel The average Hindoo mind
can not receive a woman as a human
being possessed of soul and sensibil-
ity. Though she influences the aspira-
tons of her children, shapes their
destinies, yet she is withheld from
sharing their triumphs or their pleas
ures. Feelings akin to pity arise in
the English breast. or rather indigna-
ton. as. when passing through the ma
tive villages, he sees, engaged in
severe toll, the women. whilst the
men. squatting on the ground before
their houses, enjoy in the cool Of even
tide the songs Of the wandering min
strel. or the latest marvel from the
lips of the professional story-teller.
1t is reported that the most cruel in
their treatment of the women are the
Iengars. who claim for themselves
more than ordinary attributes. The
European is to him no less an object
Of contempt than pariah. and when
the Iengar talks with a Griffin Gas a
newly-arrived Englishman in India is
calledD, he does not fail to show his
disdain, for fastidious Brahmins. when
they speak to Sudra or a European.
are accustomed to place their hand on
the stomach, and, catching the holy
thread, present the back of the hand
to the person addressed. and. at the
close of the conversation. by rotary
motion, they display the palm. To
those who choose to regard this is an
insult it is such.
The Brahmin is bundle of extraor-
binary contradictions. Witness him
buying load of wood from a pariah.
He halls the unfortunate creature. who,
setting down his burden, edges away
whilst the Brahmin examins it. The
Brahmin then IN yves away. The pariah
approaches the wood. and with his
hand before his mouth. lest his breath
touch the person Of the august pur-
chaser, he concludes the sale. No
pariah uses the public highway made
by British money and under British
supervision while a noble Brahmin
passes. Brahmin youths are beset
from their birth with tedious restric-
tons; the dignity Of their race and
their own dignity is theme which
never tires with their parents. Per-
haps their only luxury is that of taking
snuff. and in this even the law inter-
feres and lays down a certain age when
they may begin: to bachelor this
pleasure is prohibited: snuf-taking
can only begin with matrimony.
The Tamil Brahmins have peculiar
" poetic language. and though their
ideas are not always poetical. vet they
are generally picturesque The insect
kingdom is the human world in dis
guise. and accordingly they cali the
bee Brahmin from its selfish exclusive
ness and its dislike to insects other than
bees: the wasp is the videgar, or priest;
the grasshopper and locust. soldiers.
from their destructive qualities:a large
insect. being species Of glow-wOrm,
a cowherd or milkman: the mosquito
and the flea household servants: the
bug doctor: the butterfly Brahinin
woman. and the horsetly dog. And
in conclusion. should any of my readers
ever desire the speedy departure Of a |
Brahmin from his house, l have bat to |
say lie. him call into the room a dog
for to pure Brahmin a dog and a fowl
is as much an adherence as hog TO /
an orthodox Hebrew or to faithful fol-
lowers of Mohammed.-Cor. San Fran
cisco Chronicle